Staff Sergeant Matthew Cornett

Matthew completed his Airman Leadership School (ALS). They had a graduation ceremony yesterday morning and then last night they had a steak dinner and celebration for the graduates as well. I told everyone back in August or September sometime that Matt had been promoted, well he had to complete this class first. So, he just finished the 6 week class and now he is officially Staff Sgt!

Matthew receiving his diploma from Col. Bergeson.

Then that evening we got all dressed up for the dinner and ceremony. We were downtown so afterwards we went over to the ice sculptures to take some pictures. It has been so warm here (34-40 degrees) that the ice sculptures have already started to melt some!

Congratulations, Matt! I love you!

A Few of My Adorable Nephews!

This last weekend I got to go to Dallas, Tx. Matthew didn't get to go because he had to work. :(

It was soo good to get to see my family again so soon. Over the last two years I had not gotten to watch any of Ben and Shelley's basketball games...so I was desperate to get to watch them play! So, I flew into Dallas and got to watch two of each of their games. Below are just a few of the pictures that I took. For now I am focusing on my nephews. I'll try to post more pics of the rest of the trip later!

Colton Henry. Handsome little man. I can already tell he is going to be a heart breaker!

Colton wanting to be a big boy!

Papa, Levi and Will. Those boys are growing up soo fast! I was so thankful to get to spend a little time with them so that they don't forget who their Aunt Jo Jo is! :)

Levi. What a cutie he is. That smile will melt any heart.

Sweet Will Cotton. With that little mischievous look in his eyes! He is so smart!

Ice Sculptures and Such

Yes. That is an ice sculpture of the Grinch going down a chimney! This sculpture is in down town anchorage along with many other ones. They sculpt them in early December (I believe) and they usually down melt until about mid March. Crazy! They have a little ice skating rink and all around the rink are ice sculptures. On Friday night Devin, Sarah, Matthew and I went to eat at Moose's Tooth and then went down town to see all the sculptures. It was really cold, so we didn't stay long, but it was fun to see them!

Matthew and I freeeeezing!

Matthew on the ice skating rink without any skates.

Devin and Sarah.

Them again. :)

Us.

And then below are some new winter pictures of the great outdoors here in Alaska. It is such a majestic place!

Sample Wedding Part 3 of 3

The wedding. It was gorgeous. The weather was perfect. The sun was setting as they were saying "I do", which made for an amazing backdrop. The wedding wasn't stressful or hurried. It was relaxing and so much fun.

Papa walking Heather down the aisle.

The rings.

The flowers. They were bought fresh straight from the market the morning of the wedding!

"You may kiss the bride"

The view. This is overlooking Lake Atitlan.

Mr. and Mrs. Chris Sample!

Mama and Papa at the reception. Wow, haven't they aged well?

Whitney, Ben, Gini, Zachary, Landon, Luke, Shelley and Cori.

The cool guys.

Father-Daughter dance.

Chris and Heather just after the wedding.

Heather and me.

Landon, Ben, Zach, Luke and Matthew. Apparently Landon thought everyone was supposed to be making the "cool guy" face.

Gini, Landon, Shelley, Cori...man, do I ever have handsome/gorgeous siblings!

Kristin, Cori, Jackie Beth, Gini, and Shelley just before the wedding.

All the bridesmaids shoes.

Cori Layne. Growing up way to fast!

Whitney, Shelley, and Cori.

Luke, Heather and Shannon.

Matthew, me, Heather and Jackie Beth.

Gini and Ben on the dance floor.

Heather and Chris cutting the cake that came all the way from Texas! Mama and Cori carried it on the airplane and brought it safely to Guatemala for the wedding.

Colton needed a little nap. It was so precious how his little hand was holding on to Terah's necklace!

Heather and Colton.

It was a beautiful vacation, a beautiful wedding and great time with friends and family. We are so blessed to have Chris in our family!

Sample Wedding Part 2 of 3

A post of mostly pictures. I will let them show you what a great time we had!

Colton enjoying the wind in his face on the boat ride.

The girls at the rehearsal dinner.

Matt and Virg

Colton playing in the water with Uncle Matt. Colton LOVED the water!

Colton and Mamanita.

Colton trying to steal Luke's hat.

Sweet face.

The Ott family.

Matthew and me.

Matthew, Cori and Gini in one of the tuk tuk's. These are the little taxi's that we road around in.

The day after the wedding on the way to San Antonio, Guatemala.

Matthew in the mirror. :)

It took four tuk tuks to get us to San Antonio!

Colton taking a little nap on Uncle Ted's shoulder.

Gini, Whitney and Landon.

Landon and Whit at family Christmas.

Gini, Doug, Kristen, Cori, Jackie Beth, Ben, Shelley, Matthew and I walked about 1/4 mile down the road from our hotel and road the zip line. The view was unbelievable from the zip line. I was not brave enough to let go of the cable to take pictures as I was going across though, so now pics of that. But trust me. It was amazing! It is always incredible to see God's creativity. It makes me think of all the places that I have never been or seen. Even though I haven't been there or seen them they are still there displaying God's beauty. Amazing.

Matthew and I in the market.

Colton and Shaggs. Colton's hair was crazy because his mama had just put sunscreen all over his head. He is such a precious little boy!

So happy. He loves his mama a lot. I love seeing that!

Colton and Papa.

Colton and Nate. He loves his daddy a lot too. I can already see how Colton's personality is going to be a lot like his daddy's. SOO cute!

Colton enjoying all the ribbons and boxes from the Christmas presents.

Colton and his Aunt Gini. So fun to see how much he loves all his aunts and uncles!

Matthew and me...with a little sleep in our eyes. Eating breakfast before the boat ride. We had complimentary breakfast every morning. It was delicious! Fresh fruit, eggs, refried black beans...yum!

Me, Shelley, and Gini. I miss these girls a lot! It was really fun to have several days in a row to get to hang out with the family!

My absolute FAVORITE expression that Colton makes. He makes a ton of really cute ones...but i think this is my fav!

Cori and Mama on the boat ride. Beautiful girls and beautiful scenery. Cori has grown up so much, it is crazy!

Whit fell asleep on the boat ride over. How anyone can actually fall asleep in that position is impressive...but she managed!

Nate and Terah.

Terah and the bride.

Colton and Whit.

The bride and groom at the rehearsal dinner. Heather's dress was SOO cute! I loved it!

Shelley and Zach.

Landon, Papa, and Ben. Ben is so tall. Growing up so fast.

Virg, Whit and Shaggs.

Gini, Matthew and Cori. So thankful my family and my husband get along so well!

Heather and Chris. So fun to see them so happy and in love. We are so thankful for Chris to be joining our family!!

Colton in one of his many adorable hats with yet another precious expression on his face.

Whitney, Shelley, me, Gini and Landon hanging out at the pool.

Colton and Me.

Jackie Beth, Colton and Uncle Ben enjoying the hot tube!

Colton and Papa.

Colton trying to steal Unlce Matthew's hat. He was always trying to steal someone's hat!

We miss Tyler so much. I wish so much that he could have been there. Again, it is so hard to experience new things and welcome new people into the family without him here. The good times are sometimes when I miss him the most because I wish that he were here to celebrate with us. I cannot wait to celebrate with him in heaven one day!

We had such a great time in Guatemala. The entire time there was wonderful. It turned out to be even better and more fun than any of us were expecting!